Chip card holding mechanism and portable electronic device

ABSTRACT

A chip card holding mechanism includes a bracket, an unlock member and a tray. The bracket defines a receiving chamber. The unlock member is assembled adjacent to the opening of the bracket. The movable tray is assembled to and received within the receiving chamber of the bracket by the unlock member. The tray includes a supporting portion for receiving a chip card, a draw-off portion formed on a first end of the supporting portion, and a resisting block formed on the draw-off portion. The unlock member includes a main portion and an ejecting portion formed on the main portion, the ejecting portion slidably resists against the corresponding resisting block of the tray, for providing an ejecting force to eject the tray away from the bracket. An electronic device using the chip card holding mechanism is also provided.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure generally relates to holding mechanisms, andparticularly to a chip card holding mechanism and an electronic deviceusing the chip card holding mechanism.

2. Description of Related Art

Chip card holding mechanisms are applied to electronic devices forholding chip cards that are assembled within the electronic devices.However, existing chip card holding mechanisms may be wholly assembledwithin the electronic device and positioned under a battery and/or aback cover of the electronic device. Therefore, when detaching orinstalling the chip card, the back cover and/or the battery of theelectronic device must first be removed. In addition, the chip cardholding mechanism has a complicated structure and is difficult to use.

Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, theemphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principlesof the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 shows a partial, isometric view of an embodiment of an electronicdevice.

FIG. 2 shows an exploded, isometric view of the electronic device ofFIG. 1, wherein the electronic device includes a housing, a display anda chip card holding mechanism.

FIG. 3 shows an exploded isometric view of a bracket and a tray of thechip card holding mechanism of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows an assembled isometric view of the bracket and the tray ofFIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows a partial assembled isometric view of the electronic deviceof FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5, but viewed from another aspect.

FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 6, but viewed from another state of use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1, is an embodiment of an electronic device 100. The electronicdevice 100 can be a tablet computer, a mobile phone, or a camera, forexample. In the illustrated embodiment, the electronic device 100 is atablet computer. Also referring to FIG. 2, the electronic device 100includes a housing 10, a display 30 mounted to the housing 10, and achip card holding mechanism 50 assembled within the housing 10 forholding a chip card, such as a SD card, a multimedia card, or a SIMcard, for example.

The housing 10 is substantially rectangular, and includes a bottom wall11 and a rectangular peripheral wall 13 perpendicularly extending from aperiphery of the bottom wall 11. The peripheral wall 13 defines anunlock slot 131 through one side wall (not labeled) of the peripheralwall 13, and a card insert slot 133 adjacent to the unlock slot 131. Amounting base 15 is formed on the bottom wall 11 and positioned adjacentto the unlock slot 131 and the card insert slot 133, for mounting thechip card holding mechanism 50.

The chip card holding mechanism 50 is mounted on the mounting base 15and received within the housing 10, for receiving and holding a chipcard inserted through the card insert slot 133. The chip card holdingmechanism 50 includes a bracket 60, a tray 70, an unlock member 80, anda fixing board 90. The bracket 60 is fixedly mounted on mounting base15. The tray 70 is detachably assembled to the bracket 60 by the unlockmember 80 and is capable of passing through the card insert slot 133 ofthe housing 10. The fixing board 90 is fixedly mounted on the mountingbase 15, adjacent to the card insert slot 133, and resists against theunlock member 80.

Also referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the bracket 60 includes an upper cover61, a bottom cover 63 and two elastic members 65. The upper cover 61 ismounted over the bottom cover 63 and cooperatively defines a receivingchamber 613. The receiving chamber 613 has a substantially rectangularopening (not labeled) aligning with the corresponding card insert slot133. In use, the chip card is placed on the tray 70 and inserted intothe card insert slot 133 and received within the receiving chamber 613together with the tray 70. The two elastic members 65 are oppositelymounted to two sides of the bottom cover 63 for elastically sandwichingtwo sides of the tray 70, within the receiving chamber 613.

The bottom cover 63 includes a main body 631, a resisting portion 633,two guiding portions 635, and two block portions 637. The main body 631is a substantially rectangular board for supporting the tray 70. Theresisting portion 633 is formed on one end of the main body 631 andpositioned opposite to and away from the card insert slot 133. A bentelastic strip 6331 is mounted to the resisting portion 633 and receivedwithin the receiving chamber 613, for elastically resisting a distal endof the tray 70. The two guiding portions 635 are positioned opposite toeach other, adjacent to two sides of the main body 631. Each guidingportion 635 defines a guiding slot 6351 toward a middle portion of themain body 631. The main body 631, the resisting portion 633, the twoguiding portions 635 and the upper cover 61 cooperative define thereceiving chamber 613. The two block portions 637 are oppositely formedon two sides of the main body 631 and positioned adjacent to the twoguiding portions 635, respectively. Each block portion 637 defines ablock slot 6371 for assembling one elastic member 65.

The two elastic members 65 are assembled into the two block slots 6371of the two block portions 637, and partially received within thereceiving chamber 613, for elastically resisting two sides of the tray70. In the illustrated embodiment, the elastic member 65 is a bentelastic sheet, and includes an elastic blocking portion 651 formed on asubstantially middle portion of the elastic member 65, toward thereceiving chamber 613, for latching the tray 70 within the receivingchamber 613.

The tray 70 is slidably assembled to the bracket 60 and received withinthe receiving chamber 613. In the illustrated embodiment, the tray 70includes a supporting portion 71, a draw-off portion 73 formed on oneend of the supporting portion 71, and a resisting block 75. Thesupporting portion 71 defines a substantially rectangular recession 711in a top surface of the supporting portion 71, for receiving the chipcard, and further defines two block slots 713 oppositely recessed fromtwo opposite sides of the supporting portion 71, corresponding to thetwo elastic blocking portions 651. Two guiding bars 715 are oppositelyformed on two sides of the supporting portion 71 for slidably engaginginto the corresponding two guiding slots 6351 of the bracket 60. Thedraw-off portion 73 is bar-shaped and has a dimension substantially thesame as that of the card insert slot 133. As the supporting portion 71of the tray 70 is totally received within the receiving chamber 613 ofthe bracket 60, the draw-off portion 73 is also received within the cardinsert slot 133. The resisting block 75 is a block substantially in theshape of a wedge formed on a middle portion of the draw-off portion 73and facing toward the opposite other end of the supporting portion 71.The resisting block 75 has an inclined resisting surface 751 facingtoward one side of the supporting portion 71.

Also referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, the unlock member 80 is movably mountedon the mounting base 15 and positioned between the bracket 60 and theside wall of the peripheral wall 13, and resists against the tray 70 forejecting the tray 70 away from the bracket 60. The unlock member 80includes a main portion 81 and a mounting portion 83 formed on one endof the main portion 81. The main portion 81 is substantially rectangularbar-shaped, and includes a substantially wedge-shaped ejecting portion811 formed on a substantially middle portion of a first side of the mainportion 81, corresponding to the resisting block 75 of the tray 70. Asubstantially L-shaped elastic arm 813 extends from a second side of themain portion 81, adjacent to the mounting portion 83, and is bent towardthe other end of the main portion 81. An unlock portion 831 is formed onthe mounting portion 83, away from the elastic arm 813 side,corresponding to the unlock slot 131 of the housing 10.

The fixing board 90 is fixedly assembled within the housing 10, andpositioned above the bracket 60, and resists against the elastic arm 813of the unlock member 80. The fixing board 90 forms a stopping block 91corresponding to and resisting against the elastic arm 813.

Also referring to FIGS. 4 and 6, when assembling the chip card holdingmechanism 50, the bracket 60 is firstly mounted on the mounting base 15of the housing 10 with the opening 611 of the bracket 60 facing towardsand aligning with the card insert slot 133 of the housing 10. The tray70 is slidably assembled into the receiving chamber 613 of the bracket60 by passing through the card insert slot 133 and the opening of thebracket 60. The two guiding bars 715 of the tray 70 slidably engage intothe two guiding slots 6351 of the bracket 60. The two elastic blockingportions 651 of the two elastic member 65 latch into the two block slots713 of the tray 70. The unlock member 80 is movably mounted on themounting base 15 and positioned between the bracket 60 and the side wallof the peripheral wall 13. The ejecting portion 811 of the unlock member80 resists against the corresponding inclined resisting surface 751 ofthe resisting block 75 of the tray 70, the unlock portion 831 passesthrough the unlock slot 131 and is partially exposed to the outside ofthe housing 10. The fixing board 90 is fixedly assembled above thebracket 60, and resists against the elastic arm 813 of the unlock member80. The unlock member 80 is capable of being moved to thereby ejectingthe tray 70 away from the bracket 60.

Also referring to FIG. 7, in use, the unlock portion 831 is pushed toslide along the unlock slot 131 of the housing 10, the ejecting portion811 of the unlock member 80 is driven to slidably resist against thecorresponding inclined resisting surface 751 of the tray 70, therebyproviding an ejecting force to unlock the tray 70. Meanwhile, theelastic arm 813 is bent, thereby further exerting an elastic forcetoward the card insert slot 133 for ejecting the tray 70 away from thebracket 60. The two elastic blocking portions 651 of the two elasticmembers 65 disengage from the two block slots 713 of the tray 70,respectively, and the draw-off portion 73 of the tray 70 is thus exposedfrom the card insert slot 133 of the housing 10, thereby allowing theuser to insert or take out the chip card. Finally, the tray 70 is pushedinto and received within the receiving chamber 613 of the bracket 60 tocomplete the chip card removal or installation operation by using thechip card holding mechanism 50.

While various embodiments have been described and illustrated, thedisclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Variousmodifications can be made to the embodiments by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the true spirit and scope of the disclosure asdefined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A chip card holding mechanism for an electronicdevice, comprising: a bracket defining a receiving chamber having anopening; an unlock member assembled adjacent to the opening of thebracket; and a tray detachably assembled to and received within thereceiving chamber of the bracket by the unlock member, wherein, the traycomprises a supporting portion for receiving a chip card, a draw-offportion formed on a first end of the supporting portion, and a resistingblock formed on the draw-off portion and facing toward an oppositesecond end of the supporting portion; the unlock member comprises a mainportion and an ejecting portion formed on the main portion, the ejectingportion slidably resists against the corresponding resisting block ofthe tray, for providing an ejecting force to eject the tray away fromthe bracket.
 2. The chip card holding mechanism of claim 1, wherein theresisting block has an inclined resisting surface facing toward one sideof the supporting portion; the ejecting portion is substantiallywedge-shaped, and formed on a first side of the main portion to slidablyresisting against the inclined resisting surface of the resisting block.3. The chip card holding mechanism of claim 2, wherein the unlock memberfurther comprises a mounting portion formed on one end of the mainportion, and an unlock portion formed on the mounting portion fordriving the unlock member to slide.
 4. The chip card holding mechanismof claim 2, wherein the bracket comprises a bottom cover, an upper covermounted over the bottom cover, and two elastic members, the upper coverand the bottom cover cooperatively define the receiving chamber; the twoelastic members are oppositely assembled into and positioned at twosides of the bottom cover; the supporting portion defines two blockslots at two opposite sides thereof to engage with the two elasticmembers.
 5. The chip card holding mechanism of claim 4, wherein thebottom cover comprises a main body, a resisting portion formed on oneend of the main body, two guiding portions, and two block portions, thetwo guiding portions are oppositely formed adjacent to two sides of themain body, each guiding portion defines a guiding slot; the main body,the resisting portion, the two guiding portions and the upper covercooperatively define the receiving chamber; the tray further comprisestwo guiding bars oppositely formed on two sides of the supportingportion and slidably engaging into the corresponding two guiding slotsof the bottom cover.
 6. The chip card holding mechanism of claim 5,wherein the bracket further comprises a bent elastic strip mounted tothe resisting portion and received within the receiving chamber, forelastically resisting against a distal end of the tray.
 7. The chip cardholding mechanism of claim 5, wherein, the bottom cover furthercomprises two block portions oppositely formed on two sides of the mainbody and positioned adjacent to the two guiding portions respectively,each block portion defines a block slot for assembling one elasticmember.
 8. The chip card holding mechanism of claim 2, wherein thesupporting portion defines a substantially rectangular recession in atop surface of the supporting portion, for receiving the chip card. 9.The chip card holding mechanism of claim 3, wherein, the unlock memberfurther comprise an elastic arm extending from a second side of the mainportion, the chip card holding mechanism further comprises a fixingboard positioned above the bracket, and resisting against the elasticarm of the unlock member.
 10. An electronic device, comprising: ahousing comprising a bottom wall and a rectangular peripheral wall, theperipheral wall defining an unlock slot and a card insert slot adjacentto the unlock slot; and a chip card holding mechanism assembled withinthe housing and positioned adjacent to the card insert slot, for holdinga chip card, the chip card holding mechanism, comprising: a bracketmounted on the bottom wall of the housing and defining a receivingchamber having an opening aligning with the card insert slot of thehousing; an unlock member assembled adjacent to the opening of thebracket and the peripheral wall of the housing; and a tray detachablyassembled to and received within the receiving chamber of the bracket bythe unlock member; wherein, the tray comprises a supporting portion forreceiving a chip card, a draw-off portion formed on a first end of thesupporting portion, and a resisting block formed on the draw-off portionand facing toward an opposite second end of the supporting portion; theunlock member comprises a main portion, an ejecting portion formed on afirst side of the main portion, and an unlock portion formed on one endof the main portion corresponding to the unlock slot; the ejectingportion faces toward the card insert slot and slidably resists againstthe corresponding resisting block of the tray, thereby providing anejecting force to eject the tray away from the bracket toward the cardinsert slot; the unlock portion passes through the unlock slot andpartially exposed to the outside of the housing for driving the unlockmember to slide.
 11. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein theresisting block has an inclined resisting surface facing toward one sideof the supporting portion; the ejecting portion is substantiallywedge-shaped, and formed on a first side of the main portion to slidablyresisting against the inclined resisting surface of the resisting block.12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the housing furthercomprises a mounting base formed on the bottom wall and positionedadjacent to the unlock slot and the card insert slot, the bracket isfixedly mounted on the mounting base, the ejecting portion is slidablyassembled between the card insert slot and the bracket, and resistsagainst the tray for ejecting the tray away from the bracket.
 13. Theelectronic device of claim 12, wherein, the unlock member furthercomprises a mounting portion formed on one end of the main portion, andan unlock portion formed on the mounting portion for driving the unlockmember to slide.
 14. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein thebracket comprises a bottom cover, an upper cover mounted over the bottomcover, and two elastic members, the upper cover and the bottom covercooperatively define the receiving chamber; the two elastic members areoppositely assembled into and positioned at two sides of the bottomcover; the supporting portion defines two block slots at two oppositesides thereof to engage with the two elastic members.
 15. The electronicdevice of claim 14, wherein the bottom cover comprises a main body, aresisting portion formed on one end of the main body, two guidingportions, and two block portions, the two guiding portions areoppositely formed adjacent to two sides of the main body, each guidingportion defines a guiding slot; the main body, the resisting portion,the two guiding portions and the upper cover cooperatively define thereceiving chamber; the tray further comprises two guiding barsoppositely formed on two sides of the supporting portion and slidablyengaging into the corresponding two guiding slots of the bottom cover.16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the bracket furthercomprises a bent elastic strip mounted to the resisting portion andreceived within the receiving chamber, for elastically resisting againsta distal end of the tray.
 17. The electronic device of claim 15,wherein, the bottom cover further comprises two block portionsoppositely formed on two sides of the main body and positioned adjacentto the two guiding portions respectively, each block portion defines ablock slot for assembling one elastic member.
 18. The electronic deviceof claim 13, wherein, the unlock member further comprise an elastic armextends from a second side of the main portion, the chip card holdingmechanism further comprises a fixing board positioned above the bracket,and resisting against the elastic arm of the unlock member.